Common Pillbugs in beetle tanks?

GelGelada

GelGelada

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So I'm keeping some common pillbugs again for pleasure and it sort of dawned on me that if i start a colony, I could put some in my beetle tanks to clean up a little, or even my jars. Would that be effective at all or should I not even bother? I'm not doing it yet, but it was a plan if I happen to get a lot of pillbugs later down the line. I only have a handful of them right now to keep on the side and my Eastern Hercules and ox beetles are a long ways away from pupating into adults.

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm still new to keeping beetles in general. I haven't had too many issues with needing cleanup in my jars/tanks but if it can help cut down on possible fungus, I'd like to try it out if it won't hurt the beetles.

 
I'm not sure I'd put them in with larvae (someone else may have more info on this, but I've never done it), but pillbugs won't bother adult beetles at all. Isopods are great cleaners. I put them (and springtails) in most of my containers. My jumping spider eats them, and my other bugs don't mind them at all and don't even seem to notice them. 

 
Ah okay, I remember someone on Youtube mentioning springtails in jars with larva but that didn't sound like a good idea to me (competing for food?). I wanted to be sure. Now, what about housing small flat millipedes with pillbugs?

 
Springtails with larvae are probably not a big deal, although I have not put them in together intentionally. (But you know, springtails just kind of happen when there's dirt around, LOL.) I have not kept flat millipedes but I doubt there would be an issue keeping them with a couple of pillbugs. They might not be comfortable with an entire colony of pillbugs swarming around, but a handful as cleaners shouldn't be an issue. 

 
Ah, nah I don't want their populations to get like that if I can help it, mainly because I don't use them as feeders (currently) and I don't have a lot that needs cleaners. I only have a trio of them right now. I would like to, but my boyfriend denies his fear of bugs and a swarm of anything like that in the house would freak him out. I'm slowly introducing him to other species with pillbugs because they're cute, but baby steps. Thanks for the input!

 
So I have a 20L exhibit for G. caseyi that has a mixed collection of inverts in it: a huge population of iso's, some slugs and a couple snails, springtails, and the other occasional odd invert.  I probably have roughly 8-12 G. caseyi in there now, and pull about 25 grubs weekly.  I suspect I get relatively heavy egg/L1 losses from the assortment in this tank, as I've pulled a lot higher number of grubs from smaller numbers of beetles before.  So, it's doable, but you'll suffer some losses, and G. caseyi are relatively bulletproof. :)   

 
I don't have a colony of beetles, so that isn't a thing I'm doing or planning. I'm not sure where you got the idea that I have flower beetles? I'm just looking for something to eat surface mold that pops up frequently in both my larva jars and tanks later down the line. I know many say this is an issue with moisture, but there's literally no way to NOT have mold where I live (swamp) and not just dry out my containers to control it. Heck, I don't buy bread because of this. I either have to disturb it a lot, or just spot clean it. Experimenting with different airflow methods has not really helped, beyond having a lot of holes and just spraying my jars a lot.

I don't plan to make a large mixed thing like that, just two species at MOST in a tank later down the line. No adults together, but that's because I have Eastern Hercules and ox beetles. I don't really plan to breed ox beetles again until I can plan better for that. I do not keep my grubs together. I've had too many accidents out of nowhere and it all stopped once I put everyone into their own container.

I'm not sure what is better for eating mold. I might just need to order springtails but that's no big deal. I'm perhaps overly cautious about mold and invaders because of where I live, mold explodes very easily so I never have a setup which I cannot very easily clean if I need to. Having hundreds of bugs in a container means I can't clean it easily. Fine for roaches and that sort of thing, but REALLY not my style.

 
GelGelada said:
I could put some in my beetle tanks to clean up a little, or even my jars. Would that be effective at all or should I not even bother?
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You were asking about mixing iso's with beetles, so I offered my experience of mixing iso's with beetles.  Sorry if you did not find it helpful.  I never assumed you had flower beetles, just offering up how this particular species responds to living with iso's.  If you're looking for more mold control, I'd go with springs.  Unless they're in huge numbers I haven't observed them bothering anything, and I keep them with dozens of species of inverts.  They're also great at keeping various invert eggs clean and free of mold.  That being said, if you have huge amounts of mold, springs will probably be insufficient.  

 
Hello, I own lots of isopods that I keep as pets. But from what I've learned, they are both omnivorous and carnivorous. I have seen them eat dead insects, arachnids, etc. I put some in my beetle egg container. And guess what? They ate all the eggs! I was extremely frustrated! Do not risk putting them in your beetle breeding tank!

 
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